


stumble, fall

by serj



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Day 7: Crossover/PJO AU, Hanceome Week 2016, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-11
Updated: 2016-09-11
Packaged: 2018-08-14 10:27:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8010091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serj/pseuds/serj
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lance and Hunk are far from oblivious. They're just not ready to stop pretending otherwise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	stumble, fall

_Bang! Bang! Bang!_ The sharp clang of metal against metal filled Lance’s eardrums.

He was a child of Hermes, but one of the places he felt most at home was inside the Hephaestus cabin’s workshop, much to the dismay of the other campers.

From his perch atop the rickety old stool next to the workbench, he looked over at Hunk, who was toiling with the mechanism of a leg hold trap. He watched him as he brought a hammer against the hot metal, the sinew of his scarred arms tightening. Islander tattoos extended from his shoulder to his wrist, and he was hunched over to reveal the soft folds of his stomach, which Lance had lay his head on last summer during fireworks and never really forgotten about- 

“...Lance?” 

“Huh?” Lance snapped out of his trance, trying his best to appear unperturbed. 

“I asked you which cabins are on our team for capture the flag,” Hunk said, looking Lance up and down with mild bemusement. His hair clung to his face, sweaty from the heat of the fires. Lance wanted to reach out and tuck it behind his ear. “I know Pidge’s is, we’ve already done some battle planning together, but isn’t Keith’s, too?”

“No, no, no. Coran’s a lot of things, but he’s not dumb enough to put Athena and _Ares_ on the same team. It’s us, the wine guys, and the divas versus the botanists, honors choir, Ares, and the Big Three.”

“ _Zeus cabin_ ,” Hunk whistled. “I’ll have to lightning-proof my traps for Shiro.”

“You know he’ll get past them anyway. Keith will probably snoop on us like last time and point them all out.”

He shrugged. “It’s worth a shot. Does the Hermes cabin have anything planned?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” He grinned.

“Dude, unfair! We’re on the same team!”

“Hey, I’ll tell you when our cabins meet. I wouldn’t want my sibs to think I revealed any _Hermes family secrets_.”

“Your family has secrets? Mine just has a bunch of smelly mechanics and a hermit for a dad.”

Lance stroked his chin. “Wasn’t he thrown off of Olympus as a baby for being ugly?”

“That’s not a secret! And Dad may not be attractive, but he’s got a good heart.”

“Well, you definitely didn’t inherit his _looks_.”

Hunk was rummaging through a box of nuts and bolts. “Huh?”

Lance pursed his lips. “Neeevermind.”

Hunk stopped rummaging to gape at him. “Was that supposed to be _flirting_?” 

“What? No-”

“Because it was _terrible_.” Hunk snorted. Lance must have been imagining it, but he thought he might have seen Hunk’s ears redden a little. He started tightening a bolt on one of the panels meant to trigger the trap. “You know, it’s funny when you practice flirting on Keith because he doesn’t even get the punchlines, but with me it’s just kind of...embarrassing.” 

“I wasn’t practicing,” Lance mumbled.

“ _...What_?” 

“Nothing.” 

Hunk slammed the screwdriver down on his workbench. “Oh. Okay. Okay.” 

 

Lance had left pretty quickly after that, and Hunk was almost relieved. His indecipherable humor made it impossible to tell when to take him seriously, if ever.

Hunk had met him at a supermarket in New Jersey behind a stack of orange crates, hiding from the same dracaena. They made the trip to Camp Half-Blood together through a particularly bad winter storm and had been inseparable ever since. Lance read like an open book; he told Hunk everything, from the smells of the restaurant his grandparents owned back in Cuba to the lengths of his short-lived crush on Artemis’ lieutenant Huntress, Allura. But sometimes Hunk felt like there were things stuck between the pages, things Lance couldn’t even tell his best friend.

When Pidge arrived at Half-Blood Hill last fall and the two had led her, battered and confused, back to camp as the symbol of Athena glowed above her head in all its glory, Lance recounted his claiming during his first night in the Hermes cabin: how it had felt like he had a real home for the first time in years. After that, Hunk couldn’t help but wonder what else he didn’t know about the guy. 

He sighed as he untangled the mess he had made of his trap. He couldn’t concentrate. Overthinking and tinkering did not go together.

He recollected his shirt from the rusted hook by the door: he always tried to keep his clothes clean and far away from any fluids or hazardous materials, but as he slid on the faded orange cotton, he grimaced at the appearance of a huge machine oil stain on the sleeve. He would have to wash it. _Again._

Outside was crisp and bright, the beginnings of fall colliding with the last of the dog days of summer. In his hometown, there wasn’t much change between the seasons. Here, the leaves fell gradually and there was a discernible scent wafting through every corner that seemed to sing _autumn is here._

“Hey, Hunk!” 

Hunk swiveled around to find Lance racing out of the arena to meet him. 

“Sorry I left earlier. I just, uh, needed some fresh air.” His goofy smile caught Hunk off-guard, and he paused for a moment before clearing his throat. Everything that had been professed not an hour ago was blown into his mind again, and he wondered for a moment if he should take hold of the sparks that were flying between them and force Lance to at least acknowledge the change. 

“It’s fine. Are you headed to lunch?” 

“Yeah, actually. Coran wore me out from sparring practice. He may be old, but the guy can swing a sword like nobody’s business.”

“I can imagine.” They shared a grin then, and for a moment it was as if no time had passed since that day in the supermarket behind the orange crates, both caked with dirt and full of fear, overwhelmed with relief as they met each other’s eyes and seemed to ask in usion, _you can see it, too?_ As they made their way to mess hall, Hunk pushed aside the thoughts of Lance’s stumbling words and his own tense responses. There was something there: he knew, they both knew, and it wouldn’t be long before one of them had to address it. But it was good to have days like this, where they could laugh through lunch and run back to their favorite spot behind the strawberry fields with Pidge to review elaborate battle maps for capture the flag and talk about all the quests they wanted to go on as if nothing in the world was more important. It was good to have days where he could look at Lance and love him without worrying if his friend felt the same way. So Hunk smiled, and a voice in the back of his head rang out clearly: _what’s the rush?_

**Author's Note:**

> stay updated on my work through my twitter and tumblr (both ketraia).  
> 


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